Compound valve



E. P. RICH.

COMPOUND VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. 1920.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

jaw/z easier;

COMPQUND VALVE.

Original application fiIed'JanuaTy ZO, 1919, Serial No. 274,007. Dividedand this applidationfiled March 20, 1920. Serial No. 367,549,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. RICH, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Compound Valves,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to compound valves and is applicable moreparticularly to-steam pipes in which the source is higher than the valveand freezing is apt to occur in case condensation should collect whenthe valve is closed. M device is of special value in steam heatingsystems where, as in some manufacturing and commercialinstallaflt-ions,v

the steam supply pipes are overhead, or at least at a higher level thanthe radiator.- An installation of "this type is described and claimed inmy co-pending application for a heating system, Serial No. 27%,007,filed January 30, 1919, now patent number 1,338,961,,

of which this present application is a division. As pointed out in saidc -penchng application,- when the steam supply is above the radiator,when ordinary valves are used, condensedsteam collects at the valve andis very apt to freeze and cause trouble in cold weather if the radiatoris installed in a'place where the "temperature is allowed to drop atnight or on Sundays or holidays. The object of my invention is .toprovide a compound valve so constr-uctedtha-t it will require noattention whatever except when it is desired to regulate the temperatureof the radiator. In other words, withmy device neglecton the part of theattendant will have, no bad consequences and the device will never haveto'be touched except when itvis desired to'turn the heat'on intheradiator or to shut it off. y

A contributory object is'to provide a valve having main duct controlledby a manu ally operated valve and automatic, thermally controlled meanssubject to theheat of the fluid on the inlet side ofthe main valve forretaining steam and releasing, into the main duct, the liquid ofcondensation. A further contributory object is to employ, as thethermally controlled means, a bypass valve actuated by athermo-sensitive element which is on the inlet side of said bypass valveand located a chamber which is in direct and perman'ent communicationwith the main duct on the inletgside of the main valve; i

1 a i I accomplish my obj-cot by the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in 1 which v Figure 1 is a vertical sectionalassembly view taken on the line 1-1 Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a view ipartly in'vertical sec In the drawings, 7,represents a valve cas- L ing provided in the present case witlraninternally threaded hub '8 adapted tobe con;

nected to the source of steam-supplm'as for example, a drop riserleading from an overhead source. i'ble, inlet for"'outlet,*and the hubv8 is lo cated at the inlet end; Within the valve casing is an internalwall 12 having an an:

My device is not -reversnular opening at the top, into which screwsavalve seat 13 adapted tom-operate with the main shut off valve 14 whichis here shown as being, I arranged horizontally. It

i will be understood, however, that anyof the well known types of shutoff valves cmay'be employed with like efi'ect. It will be understoodalso, that-in some cases the ring 13 may be omitted, permitting the mainvalve to seat upon "one of the integral portions of thecasing.

Valve 14. is controlled by athreaded stem-15 1 passing through asuitable stuffing box coin posed of the parts 16, 17 and 18 or anysuitable substitute therefor. A hand wheel 20 is provided forrotatingthe stem. At the outlet end oi the valve casing is an internallythreaded hub '22 adapted to be con; nected-to the radiator (not shown);

At the side of the valve casing, opposite to the internal wall 12, is -aby'pass having two principal chambers25 a dac. These-are separated'by awall 27 at theupp'er end of which is an annular opening supporting avalve seat 30. This is adapted to co -operate with the valve proper 3.1of av-thermal exparh sion trap, having a so-ealledbellows7 32 sus pendedfrom a cap 33 screwing down into the top of the by pass. Traps of thiskind are well known and for the present purpose it is sufficient to saythat the device 15 so constructed .that beneath the pre-determinedcritical temperature the bellows will remain contracted and hold thevalve 31 away from its seat. When the critical temperature is reached orexceeded the bellows expands and lowers the valve on its seat, thusshutting off the passage way. In my device I so arrange and constructthe thermal trap that the valve 31 will remain open unless subjected tothe temperature of steam. Consequently, the valve will remain open andpermit water to pass but will close as soon as it becomes enveloped insteam. By preference the by-pass 25, 26 is in semicircu lar form whenviewed in plan as in Figure 3. By preference it is also located at ornear the bottom of the valve casing.

In practice, the device is and must be installed in such manner that thehub 8 is at the inlet end and hub 22 at the outlet end. Ordinarily,moreover, the axis of the hub 8 will be in line with the axis of the hub22 and these axes will be installed in horizontal position. Inoperation, when the apparatus is installed in the manner described, itthe main valve 14: is open the steam will have a practicallyunobstructed flow through the valve casing and into the radiator. If theheat of the radiator is not required, the attendant closes the mainvalve. So long as the internal parts of the valve casing remain abovethe boiling point o1 water, the thermal valve 31 will remain closed. Asthe parts cool off, however, especially in the supply pipes, water willbegin to collect in the bottom of the valve casing. As soon as thisreaches the bellows the latter will contract and open valve 31 andpermit the water to pass oil through the passage 26 and into the outlet24. As soon as the water has passed and steam commences to flow, thebellows will immediately close the valve. Consequently, the piping abovethe valve casing will be kept tree of water and at the same time noappreciable amount of steam will be permitted to enter the radiator.Thus the radiator will be kept cold and at the same time it and thepipes leading to it will be kept clear of water. As a result, the attendant will have the same control over the radiator that he would havewith an ordinary valve, but he is relieved of the necessity of watchingto see that water does not collect. Ordinarily, in freezing weather, itwould be necessary for him to open the main valve from time to time toprevent danger of freezing, but by installing my apparatus no attentionis necessary.

lt'will be observed that in my device the automatic valve, or at leastthe thermosensitive element which controls it, is on the supply side ofthe main valve-.that is, it is subject to the action of the fluid on thesupply side whether the main valve is open or closed. It will also benoted that the wall 27 and the valve 30 are at a lower level than thetop of the inlet opening 8. This positively prevents the collection ofwater and the formation of ice in sufficient quantity to obstruct theflow through the main valve. In other words, by employing my device,even when installed in a system in which the steam supply pipes comefrom a higher level, and even though the main valve be left shut fordays at a time, a sudden freezing spell will have no injurious efiecteither on my device or the system with which it is connected; for thesimple act of opening the main shut off valve will instantly enable thesteam to flow through.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described having a valve casing provided with amain shutoff valve, a bypass around said valve, an automatic valve insaid by-pass, and a thermo sensitive element adapted to control saidautomatic valve, said thermosensitive element being located on thesupply side of said valves, whereby it is at all times subject to thetemperature of the fluid entering the device.

2. A device of the class described having a valve casing provided'with amain shut off valve, a bypass around said valve, an automatic valve insaid by-pass, located at apoint beneath the level of the main valve, anda thermosensitive element adapted to control said automatic valve, saidthermosensitive element being located on the inlet side of the automaticvalve.

3. In combination, a valve casing having a partition with two openingsin it, a main shut off valve for controlling one of said openings, and athermally controlled valve for controlling the other of said openings,the thermosensitive element of the thermally controlled valve being inposition to be at all times exposed to the action of the fluid on theinlet side of the partition.

t. In combination, a valve having a valve casing provided with aninternal partition having two openings in it, a main shut off valve forcontrolling one of said openings, and a thermally controlled valve forcontrolling the other of said openings, the thermosensitive element ofthe thermally controlled valve being located on the supply side of saidpartition whereby it is at all times exposed to the action of the fluidon the inlet side OI" the partition.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a casinghaving awall therein dividing the casing into two compartments, saidwall having a passage through it surrounded by a valve seat, a main shutvalve for controlling the latter valve seat, off valve cooperating withsaid valve seat, a and a thermoresponsive element adapted tov ductpassing horizontally around said Wall control saidautomatic valve andbeing locat- 10 and forming a by-pass, said by-pass having ed on thesupply side thereof.

a Wall dividing it into two compartments, In Witness whereof, I havehereunto suband the latter Wall having a passage through scribed myname.

it surrounded by a valve seat, an automatic EDWARD P. RICH.

